Sagem outlines Patroller UAV's flight test results

France's Sagem and its German partner Stemme have released details of a recent test campaign involving their Patroller unmanned air vehicle. They say the type has already demonstrated a mission endurance of over 10h.

Sagem announced at June's Paris air show that the Patroller had made its flight debut from Finland's Kemijarvi test site on 10 June. It now says that a further seven sorties were conducted by the end of the same month.

"The campaign demonstrated the platform's entire range of performance, and in particular its capability to carry out long-duration missions," the company says. "Take-off, flight control, automatic landing and operation of the image-intelligence payload were also demonstrated."

The Patroller has already demonstrated an endurance of over 10h

Sagem expects the Patroller to complete its qualification campaign in 2010 and believes the type is suitable for long-endurance surveillance missions, plus duties such as border patrol and coastal surveillance. Individual flights would last for up to 30h, with the UAV to have an operating ceiling of 25,000ft (7,620m) and a maximum speed of 162kt (300km/h). Maximum take-off weight is 1,050kg (2,310lb), with payload capacity cited as 250kg.

Current payloads include a Sagem Euroflir 410 electro-optical/infrared sensor and a synthetic aperture radar supplied by Germany's OHB-System. However, Sagem says a maritime search radar and communications relay equipment could also be integrated in the future. Additional flight tests are scheduled to take place "this autumn", it adds.